Fragments of Our Friendship
by mr-raindrops
Summary: Unrelated drabbles/one-shots focusing on Kuroko and Aomine's relationship, because basketball or not, they would always be friends.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.**

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"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life;

and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine."

― Thomas Jefferson

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**[this chapter contains character death]**

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_Fragments Of Our Friendship_

_i._

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Graduation was nearing, and the snow had long melted, leaving behind no traces of glistening puddles as it had earlier in the spring. The dead grass had been replaced by new green ones, covered by the petals of cherry blossoms that had decided to fall a little sooner than its usual due date.

Kuroko Tetsuya navigated through the crowd of students easily, as it had always been. No one noticed him and no one glanced at him as they chattered on excitedly about their designated high schools as they headed towards Teikou's entrance after a hard day of learning. He should be feeling optimistic about the future, sadness for leaving his middle school, but all the emotion that he managed to muster was some sort of hollowness that didn't sit quite right in his stomach. It wasn't how he wanted to end the final year of middle school, but it was the way it was, and nothing could change that.

His feet took him towards the basketball club's locker room, where everyone else should have been, organizing belongings and cleaning the place. The huge space was filled up by basketball players, from first to third string, from first to third year. The teal haired boy glided through them easily as well, making his way to his locker.

As he neared the spot, it was hard to miss the colourful range of hair gathered around, making small talk about everything other than basketball. All the locker doors were swung wide open, and Kuroko's neatly folded gym clothes sat on top of each other in a pile. The passing expert quietly made his way towards the items, which held many memories of days long past when he and Aomine would practice together in the third string auditorium until the sun set, way past the time they should've been allowed to remain on school grounds. Nostalgia made Kuroko's chest ache painfully, his eyes glued to his things, not wanting to see the bored demeanor on his soon-to-be-ex-teammates' faces, displaying the dim fire that lit the passion inside them for basketball.

It was heartbreaking, and it was even more so when Midorima pushed up his glasses, and asked, "where's Aomine?"

No one noticed him, even as he froze in midstep after hearing Aomine's name, eyelids fluttering shut. There was no one who should love basketball more than Aomine, a fact that shattered into a million pieces and became just some faraway thought, forgotten in the back of one's mind. His hopes kept escalating and falling, for the power forward kept playing the sport, but at the same time, his eyes never lit up the same way again, the way they had back when the two had first become the light and shadow duo of Teikou Middle School.

(Was it his fault that Aomine had become like that? Because ever since _it_ happened...)

"Aominecchi? I bet he's somewhere suntanning again," Kise joked, his cheerful voice too fake, and it wasn't the Kise-kun he knew as a loud clatter made by something smashing against metal reverberated throughout the locker room. Kuroko opened his eyes to see the taller boy rubbing the top of his head as he whined a string of complaints. "Ow! That hurt!"

He stumbled forward as he bent down to retrieve a towel that he had dropped, accidentally knocking a porcelain frog sitting on the wooden bench beside him over onto the ground, sharp shards flying across the floor, resulting with a scream from the green haired shooting guard.

"_Kerosuke_! Kise, you idiot, that was my lucky item!" He was yelling hysterically as he knelt helplessly on his hands and knees, taking in the sight of his precious frog that lied in pieces, never mind the danger of being cut, which totally defeated the purpose of taping his fingers so that they could be in top shape for basketball.

From an outsider's point of view, there was nothing wrong at all. Just a normal group of friends finishing up middle school, bickering here and there, but nothing serious. For a moment, Kuroko let himself be deceived by the scenario before him, imagining that everything was fine.

But it wasn't.

The blue haired boy sighed, and turned away, the place where his heart should be thumping painfully as he silently stepped out of the locker room, away from the noises and down the hallway. (Or was that still possible at this point?)

He wandered aimlessly, peeking into numerous empty classrooms, blackboards wiped clean and floors carefully swept. It wasn't like he expected Aomine to be there, but Kuroko just wanted to take a look, ingraining the details of his school into his mind. The small boy stopped at the base of the staircase leading up to the rooftop, pondering over if he should check, just in case.

Aomine did like sleeping up there, after all.

Before he knew it, the refreshing spring breeze was caressing his skin as he looked across the roof with a stoic expression to see the lazing figure in one of the far corners, his face covered by a magazine. Kuroko crossed over to the other boy noiselessly, and sat down next to him, studying the steady rise and fall of Aomine's chest, the criss-cross patterns the shadows of the railings made over his form.

The boy's limbs were noticeably longer and more toned than when they had first met, making Kuroko's lips curve up into a small smile out of melancholy. No lies, time truly did pass by fast, and precious moments that now could only exist inside Kuroko's mind flashed by ― all those fist bumps, all those evenings spent in a deserted gymnasium, all those walks home from practice.

He remembered that when he was a nobody, when no one noticed him, Aomine had come along and acknowledged his presence, his _existence_.

Subconsciously, the pale boy reached out to sweep the slightly disturbing magazine aside, and continued to move his hand towards the other to feel Aomine's face. He wished he could relive those times, tasting the sweetness of the speedily melting popsicle, feel the drops of sweat slide down the nape of his neck, or just hear the sole sound of the other's footsteps as he ran forward for a dunk, void of cheering from the crowds that always gathered to watch Teikou's basketball games, echoing against the walls of the gym.

Right before Kuroko's fingers would have brushed against his tanned skin, however, Aomine jolted into an upright position, causing the smaller one of the two to lower his hands hesitantly. Aomine's eyes were wide open in shock, too alert for someone who had just woken up from a nap, and his breathing was suddenly erratic as he wildly whipped his head around as if looking for something.

(Or perhaps someone?)

"Tetsu?" He whispered, and turned so that his deep blue orbs gazed into his shadow's azure ones. But Kuroko wasn't fooled as he stared back blankly into the intense storminess of his eyes, because Aomine couldn't possibly see him.

The ace of the so called "Generation of Miracles" continued to gape in Kuroko's direction, but he knew that his former basketball partner was really just staring into space, staring at nothing.

Because Kuroko was invisible.

(No, it wasn't that he had an invisible presence, it was that he was _invisible._)

He was used to not being noticed, but not like this. Not even his light could see him now.

Kuroko lifted his arm, intending to gently touch Aomine's cheeks, but his hand fell right through, in a way that defied the law of physics.

Spring, filled with relief and warmth from a long winter, renewed vigour and spirits, dreams and hopes, and all those things that would eventually make an individual all emotional. It was a sort of new beginning for most, but for Kuroko Tetsuya, there are no more beginnings.

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**A/N:** Uh. Back to character killing? /runs away with a bulletproof shield. Yeah idk, I just wanted to mix in graduation feels so...

I'm sorry if this idea is pretty unoriginal, I feel like it's probably been done already? lol

So um, this will be a compilation of one-shots focused around Kuroko and Aomine, which I hope will have a variety of genres instead of just angst or something LOL o_o' I promise no romance (though there will likely be hints about it) so haha...

If you have any ideas or prompts or constructive criticism, please tell me! ^^ (lol I really should be doing homework right now...)

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.**

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**[contains slight mature content (reason of rating **

**change, I'm paranoid) and sadist!Kuroko]**

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_Fragments of Our Friendship_

_ii._

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Kise was very torturable, a fact that everyone who knew him should know. But no one takes advantage of this as much as Kuroko and Aomine, and frankly, although it was a bit mean, it served as another source of entertainment other than basketball, another..._hobby_ that connected the two.

Of course, they considered Kise a friend, and would never touch upon anything too sensitive, because they weren't _that_ mean. Mentally, Kise was stronger than what most people would have assumed, meaning that he heals pretty fast after a good cry.

It made Kuroko's day significantly more interesting when the first thing he saw in the morning was a certain shooting guard wrestling ー a flower? ー into Kise's locks of hair.

After snickering as the result of the flower clip that Midorima had insisted Kise to wear all day in his blond hair because of an impending doom that would befall the small forward if he didn't, Kuroko finally calmed down enough to greet the two with a still trembling voice. But that was before Aomine came along and made him burst into laughter once again when the tan boy teared up out of hysterics, guffaws attracting some strange looks in their general direction. (But maybe they were directed at Kise as well.)

Midorima's additional information of the accompanying twin ponytails that Kise needed to maximize his luck didn't make the two any quieter. Especially with the terrible job the green haired boy did of tying Kise's hair up.

It was almost as good as the one time during summer training camps, when Aomine decided to decorate Kise's face with his horrible makeup skills. The teal haired boy still had the hideous picture saved on his phone, and also on a memory stick just in case his phone was somehow lost or broken. It was almost worth the extra laps that he and Aomine were ordered to do afterwards by Akashi. Almost.

(But to tell the truth, Akashi had asked the blue haired boy to send the photo to him via text message afterwards, when he was busy trying not to throw up.)

So being the immature and cruel middle school kids they were, Aomine and Kuroko teamed up on Kise all day, the former teasing Kise (sort of) good-naturedly, while the latter nonchalantly ignored the model's usual advances as he mercilessly commented drily about the clip and hairstyle.

Kise was also a clueless person at times (most times), which also led to his naivety and so he repeatedly approached Kuroko with that carefree smile on his face, only to walk away crying crocodile tears.

Akashi didn't seem to mind anymore, and in fact, he sometimes joined in. Sometimes being today.

"Ryouta, I must say that you look nice with that accessory. Though you might want to reconsider that new hairstyle."

"Kise-chin looks pretty, I thought you were a girl for a second."

"Ah! Ki-chan! You're so cute! I just want to pinch your cheeks!"

Kise's cheeks brightened up so dramatically he had to cover his face. And then Midorima scoffed, coming to poor Kise's rescue, "it's his lucky item for today."

In short, the other members of the Generation of Miracles also bullied the blond occasionally, but that's as natural as gravity and the fangirls crowding around Kise at the moment, inevitably happening.

The following weekend, Kuroko and Aomine had just arrived at Aomine's house after an afternoon of basketball at the nearby court, when Aomine recieved a text from Kise to check his email, complete with one of his signature emoticons that only Momoi used in the group aside from him.

It seemed innocent enough, that is, until Kuroko skimmed through the content within the link that Kise had sent Aomine, probably knowing that the two was spending time together like the basketball idiots that they were. Maybe they had gone overboard with teasing Kise the other day.

Now, the powder blue haired boy wasn't easily embarrassed, or in the moments that he was, his demeanor only changed subtly, a useful skill he had acquired over his thirteen years of life. However, the things he had just read was downright traumatizing, not to mention that it made his face transform into a ripened tomato.

For once, Kuroko was glad that Aomine was the academics-hating rebel that he had always been, because he had never been so relieved when Aomine yawned and asked, "so what's it about, Tetsu?"

Those fujoshi's were going to be the death of him, because he and Aomine weren't like _that. _Just because of a fistbump or two, those crazy fangirls decided to put a whole new spin on their relationship, and they were only in _middle school_! And how did Kise find these R-18 stories anyways?

"Uh, Kise-kun's essay..." It should be easy to lie, right? It wasn't like Aomine would know anything about their assignments at school. "...about plate tectonics and geological activity."

The power forward quirked a brow, which made Kuroko sigh, half in relief and half in exasperation. He'd really have to tutor Aomine sometime, because clearly whatever he's been copying from Momoi's notes weren't being remembered. Their current curriculum had nothing to do with the said subject at all, but it was also a good thing that the tall boy didn't know that, making life way easier for Kuroko.

"Volcanoes and stuff like that," the pale boy explained wearily, eyeing Aomine as his face lit up in understanding.

"Wait, but why would he send that to _me_? It's not like I'm gonna help him on it." Crap. Aomine was dangerous when the cogs of his brain turned. He took it back, life wasn't becoming any less stressing. At this rate, Kuroko was pretty sure he would go bald before he entered high school.

"He must have wanted Aomine-kun to see his hard work," Kuroko said after a while, and mentally slapped himself for the lame answer.

"Ah," Aomine replied with a grin, standing up to head to the kitchen to grab some snacks for the two of them, and Kuroko took the chance to delete the email, which he doubted the other would read anyways.

At school on Monday, Kise had a smug expression on his face along with satisfication radiating from his very being. "So Aominecchi, Kurokocchi, how was it?"

Kuroko knew what he was talking about, but nonetheless pretended to be confused. If he stalled long enough, it should buy time for the bell to ring for homeroom. "How was what?"

"The thing I sent to Aominecchi." There was an evil glint in his amber eyes, as the small forward continued, "it's hot, isn't it?"

The teal haired boy shrugged, keeping his features are blank as possible. Aomine blinked, and nodded. "It is hot. It would make your skin melt if you touched it, yeah?"

Kuroko wanted nothing more to facepalm, hoping that Aomine wouldn't say more, or else Kise would stop hinting about it and tell the team's ace directly what the writing was _really_ about.

The blond was just about to reply, when the bell rang coincidentally, and Kuroko tugged his 'light' away by the elbow, waving at a Kise who stood with his mouth still half open. At least Kise looked slightly amused (but also puzzled with Aomine's word choices), like he believed that the both of them had read the fanfiction he had sent. Good thing Aomine hadn't given anything more away, because if he found out about the truth, their friendship would become so _awkward_.

He was already dreading lunch where Kise would appear again, not to mention basketball practice, which would have never happened unless there was a particularly gruesome training menu that day, and there wasn't.

"Man, Kise's such an idiot sometimes," Aomine stated as they made their way leisurely towards homeroom, glancing sideways at Kuroko. "Of course volcanoes are hot."

"They are," Kuroko agreed with a small smile.

Yup, Kuroko liked their relationship the way it was, it was perfect that way. And in a brief moment of enlightenment, he realized that nothing can ever change that, not even a disturbing fanfiction about him and his best friend, because that's what they'll always be, no matter what obstacles that are thrown in their way ー best friends.

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**A/N**: uhh I put the rating to T, just in case because of the R-18 fanfic mention in the fic LOL tbh I really don't know how to rate pfft

here's a chapter because I'm procrastinating since i have no idea what I'm doing in French orz (I swear I was better at it in grade six than now)

BUT VICTORY~ LOL NO ONE DIED. (I apologize for the last chapter)

I'm still torturing chars though aren't I? (Oops) At least Kise sort of got his revenge? yeah idk hurhur~

The kurobas chapters in the past few weeks are HEARTBREAKING UGHH ;_; /there's my late reaction for Seirin vs Kaijou? AND AGGHHH 206 OMG I CAN'T. (I suck at all languages so basically I have no language now)

Anyhow, thanks for reading, thoughts, ideas and constructive criticism welcomed ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.**

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_Fragments of Our Friendship_

_iii._

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"Aomine-kun, please sing properly. You're giving me a headache."

The power forward paused in the middle of the song, giving Kuroko a puzzled look, but the teal haired boy knew that he wasn't as innocent as he looked. Kuroko exhaled in relief and rubbed his ears as if he had just listened to an hour of continues fingernails scraping against a chalkboard instead of a minute of Aomine singing. "You're doing that on purpose, I know you can sing better." _I know you want to ruin my hearing_ was left unsaid.

"Shut up, Tetsu! The fans love it! Have you seen the reaction to my Seishun Tip-off?" Aomine scoffed, and adjusted the sheet music on lying on Kuroko's bed so that he could see it more clearly from his position on the carpet, arms draped on the mattress. "They love me! Especially the girls from America!"

"Really, now?" Kuroko deadpanned, eyes scanning his own music sheets for the duet that he and Aomine were supposed to do together. "Would you like me to ask if Kagami-kun would introduce you to some of them?"

"...hell no!"

The wan boy didn't look affected, and he shuffled through the papers, pretending not to notice the hesitation Aomine had shown. "Get serious, Aomine-kun, the CD's due to be out in a few weeks. The studio will be mad if we don't get it done, and then you'll owe me a lot of vanilla milkshakes for getting me in trouble."

Aomine grumbled, and he rested his head on the blanket, face hidden by the fabric. The two had spent the morning practicing together at Kuroko's house, harmonizing and getting the tune perfect, learning to become one just as they had years ago on the basketball court as light and shadow. "You just want me to buy you milkshakes," his words were muffled, but it was still loud enough for Kuroko to hear, and thus he was reward with a jab to the area beneath his rib cage. He jolted from his lazing position, and glared at the stoic faced boy, who was staring at him nonchalantly. "Stop doing that! I swear, the one day I end up in the emergency room it will be because of you."

"I'll stop if you take this seriously," Kuroko said in monotone, and then informed him, "Kise-kun and Takao-kun were very amused by your Seishun Tip-off, by the way. You're so tone deaf that you're a natural at killing off perfectly good songs. Honestly, Aomine-kun, I have no idea how you even pulled off 'Netsu no Kakera'."

Aomine narrowed his eyes, and snatched the papers from the bed. "What does that mean?" Kise and Takao were different, they were idiots, so their opinions didn't matter to him. But for Kuroko to think so lowly of him? He had been fooling around, for goodness sake!

"You know what it means. But it actually sounded decent," Kuroko bluntly concluded. "So let's practice one more time. We're recording after tomorrow―"

"Wait! Are you saying that I can't sing?" Aomine asked disbelievingly, and the shorter boy had to roll his eyes. "Because I can so sing! Better than that idiot blond anyways!"

Kuroko sighed. "Shut up, Aomine-kun. Let's just get on with this already, I still have to go shoot for season two after this. And please do not interrupt people in the middle of their sentences, it's very rude."

"You're the one who told me to shut up!" Aomine threw his arms up in exasperation, completely ignorant of the fact that he had also said "shut up" just a few minutes ago. It was true that Kuroko was very busy nowadays, finishing up the for the first episode of Kuroko no Basuke's season two, and since he was the main character, he didn't get many breaks. Although they were about to graduate from high school soon, all the two talked to each other about these days were things to do with the show, whether it was song recording or filming.

It was a dramatic change from the end of middle school, when they either behaved like complete strangers towards each other or rivals, sometimes even enemies. Well, at least, that was before life happened and even bratty Akashi got proven wrong more than once ― actually, more than a few times, which probably didn't end well for the Rakuzan team, knowing the redhead's pleasant surprises of torturous training regimes.

Aomine had to admit, watching the show and watching the way the each of the 'Generation of Miracles' had changed, grown up, it was neat. Studying his past actions and words through the show, both encouraging ones and hurtful ones alike, he could only imagine the loneliness he must have made his 'shadow' feel back then. Though it had dramatized some events quite a bit (mostly the matches), the show had gotten the point across and left Aomine feeling guilty the way he should have been back in the first year of high school, instead of the narcissistic butt that he had been. Now he owed it to Kagami for being there for light blue haired boy when he wasn't.

Maybe he should have listened to Momoi's insistent blabbering, but it was too late now, anyways. Or maybe he should have paid more attention to Kuroko in their last year in Teikou, and then the teal haired boy wouldn't have been so hurt. He had known something was wrong, but he was too caught up in his own selfish rants about how boring basketball had become.

Though, another possibility was that it had been inevitable for them to all fall apart, that it had been just waiting to happen. After all, Teikou's regulars had been too talented, and therefore arrogant, for their own good at that time, so maybe it was all for the better when they went down their own separate paths, off to different high schools. Part of him was glad for the way that thing had gone, for the way that everyone had turned out after three years.

Seeing Kise's admiration for that shorty captain of his at Kaijou, the horoscope freak and Takao's weird friend-slave relationship, Murasakibara and Bakagami's childhood friend's interactions, Aomine felt a little nostalgic for his own team from two years ago. Even four-eyes Imayoshi he missed playing with, though now he was in university in Kyoto, and was someone the dark skinned boy saw only a few times a year on the set when the ex-Touou team was filming. Likewise with everyone else's senpai's who were busy with studying in a far off city.

At least he still had Sakurai's bento boxes to steal out of, but by the time summer came around, it would mark the end of that as well, after Aomine had been offered a scholarship in America for his basketball skills. He had accepted, of course, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, he would miss everyone.

"Hey, Tetsu?" Aomine inquired, realizing that the room had fell quiet after his outburst, his mind still swimming with the past. "Are you going to keep playing basketball when we get out of high school?"

Azure eyes met sea blue ones, and Kuroko blinked owlishly. "Of course. How about Aomine-kun?"

The former Touou ace set down the music he had been fiddling with onto the carpet, and nodded. Kuroko gave a genuine smile that got as wide as it had ever gotten ever since they had met, taking Aomine's breath away for a brief second. For some reason, he thought of the lyrics in their duet, and it amazed him how fitting it was for their relationship, both back then and now.

"Does that mean you'll still like basketball, or does it mean that you'll just keep playing?" The pale boy questioned further, and Aomine wondered if it was because Kuroko was afraid of him losing his passion for the sport again. The thought didn't sit well with him, and he shifted into a more comfortable position before letting out a quiet chuckle.

"Do you even need to ask?"

Kuroko's dazzling grin grew even more noticeable, if that was even possible at this point. "No, but I just wanted to hear it."

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**A/N:** hfjkaglakghl\kjh I just can't wait for Kuroko and Aomine's duet! ;A; LIKE SERIOUSLY THE TITLE. DISTANCE OF LIGHT AND SHADOW. OMG. /I've been waiting since Christmas bwahahaha.

I'm sitting here in a corner waiting for the feels to kill me now. So if I don't ever update again, it's probably because the song made me melt into a rainbow coloured puddle.

derp.

Thanks for reading (: Feedback is welcomed (lol my teacher's getting irresponsible she's not even preparing us for our essay writing tests at the end of the year pfft I'm doomed)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.**

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_Fragments of Our Friendship_

_iv._

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Whenever Kuroko passed to Aomine, it was a fast blur of feelings. He would watch as the other did a lay-up like he'd been doing it from birth, and then jog back to line up for the three man weave again. Routines, routines. He moved through drill after drill without thinking anything, and only felt.

He felt like he was leaving a mark in Teikou's history, something to be remembered by after he was gone ― the phantom sixth man.

The first string would separate into different courts to practice one-on-one, two-on-one, three-on-two. Aomine was always the first to step up out of the regulars, and Kise would excitedly hop onto the court as someone threw the ball against the backboard for one of them to rebound. The teal haired boy would take a swig out of his water bottle as Midorima stepped on after Aomine's showy dunk, and he would notice Kise's focused expression as he ran back down the court, the whole drill getting screwed up as the blond forgets who was supposed to be on offense with the shooting guard.

There was no more trouble with Haizaki, whether it was harassing a fellow teammate or just not showing up for practice. Kuroko could only speculate about the passage of time and its wonders as he joined the drill with Murasakibara to complete the three-on-two formation.

Near the end of practice, Akashi would stop all the players to assign them into teams for scrimmaging. Kuroko always got placed with Aomine, and then Aomine would always place him in a headlock, ruffling his pale locks of hair.

He felt that feeling of a team, of being able to contribute. It gave him a light feeling in his chest, the sort that could probably lift him right up and he could be walking on air for all he knew. The burning of his lungs was satisfying, the exertion no longer nausea-inducing. He looked forward to staying extra minutes after official practice to play with Aomine a bit more, and the walk home with melting ice cream.

He pondered over what it would have been like if he had never met Aomine Daiki.

The regulars played together, pushing each other harder and harder to get stronger, better. Kuroko liked watching the way his light's face lit up with each new challenge, if Kise was to jump in front of him or if he had to run around a screen.

His eyes would slide over to where Akashi stood with Momoi, the latter with a clipboard in hand. He wondered what it would have been like if it had still been Nijimura standing there, not the second-year who had to take on the responsibility of captain before his time. He wonders if it would have changed what had happened, if it had been a captain with someone by his side, because managing Teikou's basketball club is hard enough with a coach who only valued victory, add onto that the players had come to be known as the Generation of Miracles. Players who had become too genius for their age group, and the boredom with all that came with it. Boredom that drove them to skip practices, to depend on themselves, until that victory didn't even matter anymore in a school where winning is everything.

Kuroko glances at Teikou's empty grounds, his vision being shrouded by fluttering cherry blossom petals, the epitome of something ending. His hand feels empty without the slip of paper that he has been fiddling with for the past week, and he breathes one quiet exhale before turning to head home.

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**A/N:** i tried. i really did.

since i've been sort semi-hiatus-ish this was very short so gomen orz (but just saying, i do think akashi is very capable of being captain but this is just my take on the thing. kind of.)

thanks for reading though ^^;


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.**

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**[the ooc-ness in here scares me. it probably scares you as well]**

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_Fragments Of Our Friendship_

_v._

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Kuroko sees his figure by the curb, but Aomine hasn't spotted him yet, so he takes some time to adjust the strap of his bag, breathing deeply to calm his buzzing nerves before stepping out into the pool of orange created by the streetlights. Like he expected, Aomine immediately notices him, senses honed by their time together in middle school, and scowls as Kuroko nears.

Aomine's eyes travel from his pants up to his warm-up jacket, getting more and more disgruntled. Kuroko guesses that it may have something to do with the fact that it clearly reads 'Seirin' on the fabric.

He waits for the other to speak first as his gaze finally lands on his face and meets his eyes.

"Why'd you call me out so suddenly, Tetsu?" Kuroko keeps a blank demeanor as Aomine narrows his eyes.

_Obviously because I'm trying to confess to you here, you idiot. Let's get married. _"Where's Momoi-san?" he asks instead, because sardonic comments might not help in this situation.

"Huh?" Aomine looks a bit disoriented, but Kuroko doesn't provide any explanations and simply waits for the gears of his brain to start spinning. "Oh! Yeah, I thought she'd be annoying so I just left her…"

A pause.

"Wait, no, how'd you know we were together?" _No, Aomine-kun, I'm not a stalker._

"She texted me," Kuroko squints at the streetlight a little as he tries to remember what it was that she had written in the message. "'Dai-chan's taking me out, I'm getting ready right now' is what she said."

"I didn't invite her! What's that idiot saying?!" Aomine protests, and Kuroko sighs. Maybe they should get back on topic before they set up the wrong type of atmosphere._  
_

"I'll get straight to the point here, Aomine-kun," Kuroko says, and he sees that Aomine's trying to resist the urge to continue badmouthing Momoi. "Please teach me how to shoot."

"…why should I?" Aomine's voice is dripping with fake spite, and makes Kuroko wonder if their middle school team fell apart so horribly only because everyone sucked at communication and liked to keep problems to themselves.

Kuroko pauses to think, racking his mind, and zips open his bag to pull out his cell phone. "Because I have the picture."

"Hah?"

He flips through the photos, all the while being stared at suspiciously, and when he reaches the one he's been looking for ―the one where Aomine is standing in the rain with a really pained expression, in which he should have maybe visited a therapist or at least _someone _for consultation― he turns the screen towards Aomine. It's amusing to observe as his glower slowly dissipates, receding to reveal a horrified expression.

Kuroko pulls the phone away from Aomine as he tries to grab the device. "The fuck, Tetsu! Give me that!"

"Not unless Aomine-kun teaches me how to shoot."

"Who the hell did you learn this blackmailing from?!" '_And why the hell would you take a picture of me at a time like that_' is left unsaid. Aomine makes another vain attempt to snatch the phone away, and Kuroko shoves it into his pant pocket, giving Aomine a pointed look.

"I have more pictures," he deadpans. "Aomine-kun, I know you need to keep your image of a douchebag up, so let's try this again."

"Did you just call me a douche?"

"I'll get straight to the point here, Aomine-kun," Kuroko repeats, pretending not to hear Aomine's remark. "Please teach me how to shoot."

"No, no, _no._ Wait a minute, at least give me time to recompose myself you little―" Aomine groans loudly, rubbing at his eye with the heel of his hand. Kuroko raises an eyebrow, and watches Aomine's entire thinking process flash by in the form of facial expressions as he ponders over whether to comply or not. After thirty seconds or so, Aomine throws his hands up into the air in frustration and glares at Kuroko. "Ahh! Whatever, ok, just delete that picture and I'll teach you."

Kuroko takes out the phone again, showing Aomine as he presses delete, and hears the distinct whoosh of air as the other exhales in relief. Aomine turns, and leads him into the fenced outdoor court as Kuroko puts the phone away.

It's quiet for a moment, with no cars passing and no pedestrians nearby.

"Say, Tetsu, how did you know if I'd really teach you?" Aomine shoots him a glance over his shoulder.

Kuroko blinks. "Aomine-kun didn't look away."

Aomine stops walking, head lifting so that he's looking at the night sky. Kuroko follows his movement and glances up as well. The city lights wash out the stars, and leaves an unnatural, eerie glow. He wonders if Aomine is recalling that time in middle school, the time that he and Kuroko and Momoi walked home together, and the time that he had first noticed something off about Aomine.

"Yeah," he says. Kuroko shifts his feet to shuffle over to Aomine. "I owe you one, Tetsu."

Aomine turns his head to look at Kuroko, who's now beside him, and has an almost serene expression on his face. _Oh, no, the nostalgic Pure!mine memories._ Kuroko jabs his hand into his side, and Aomine yelps as he hops away with a renewed look of hatred and revenge.

"Aomine-kun, I think you're better off as a douche," Kuroko smiles a little as profanity begins to spill out of Aomine's mouth like there's no tomorrow.

After all, he thinks, the present is what really matters

* * *

**A/N:** when kuroko asked aomine to teach him how to shoot.

(/creys don't look at me i'm 220th Q no)


End file.
